Road resurfacing completed across county

ARENAC COUNTY — Motorists across Arenac County are driving on some freshly resurfaced roads.

Sections of State Road and Maple Ridge Road were recently chip and sealed by the Arenac County Road Commission. The work was done on State Road between US-23 in Omer and Bordeau Road in Standish Township, and on Maple Ridge Road between M-33 in Alger and Melita Road north of Sterling.

Blair Dyer, superintendent of the road commission, said the county chip and sealed approximately 35 miles of road at a cost of $18,000 per mile. He added that the road commission used money from its own savings for the project.

“We had some roads that were cracking and seals that were breaking, so we decided to chip and seal the roads,” he said. “This is something that needed to be done, and we have been saving our money for this project for a couple of years.”

Dyer said when roads get to be around 10 years old they should receive maintenance. He added that State Road was originally paved in the 1990s and was chip and sealed in 2004.

“The pavement starts to crack and needs to be fixed,” he said. “Chip and sealing these roads was our best and least expensive option.”

Dyer said roadwork costs have continued to rise over recent years.

“Chip and sealing is the most cost effective way for us to keep up the conditions of our roads,” he said. “Chip and seal is like someone who has to re-shingle a roof. The roof is still there but it still needs new shingles once in a while.”

Dyer said the road commission will have lines painted on the roads in the coming weeks.

He added that the road commission will continue to look at more opportunities for maintenance.

“We have to continue to do our best to keep our roads in good shape,” he said. “Just because we have paved these roads does not mean that the maintenance stops. We have to take care of them.”

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